Game Over
by Draco Silvan Malfoy
Summary: [NEW UPDATE!]A life-sized PC game that Draco Malfoy, in his 6th year, is about to experience. Read on to uncover the real myth behind the game.
1. Prologue

A/N: This is a fiction inspired by Dan Brown. I'll make it as well-plotted as possible. So enjoy!  
  
Rate: General  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any character or setting created by J K Rowling. Others are pure mine.  
  
Background knowledge:  
  
This was Draco Malfoy's sixth year at Hogwarts. He was the Prefect of Slytherin, and, therefore, owned a dormitory of his own, like other Prefects.  
  
If anything else about this story confuses you, it'll probably be answered or explained in later updates. But feel free to review and tell me your opinion anyway. Thanks!  
  
Prologue  
  
"Shut your STUPID MOUTH UP, SNAKE! Don't you EVER say anything about Harry's godfather!" Hermione Granger screamed towards the blond now standing smugly in front of her. Harry Potter was right behind, his face lit with a mixture of anger and a strange light of fear. He's been trying to forget Sirius Black's death in vain for centuries.  
  
"You're happy, aren't you Granger, to see that dog dead now that he can't prevent a Mudblood from touching his dearest Golden Boy. Take your chance, then." Draco Malfoy shot these out in a roll, a bit bored now that Granger had been using the same remark to offend him for a solid five years in vain and still showed no sign of giving it up. "And can you kindly think of other ways of calling me names apart from the 'snake'? I'm always taking this as a compliment if you really want to know."  
  
Hermione bit her lips furiously. Ron had already dragged Harry away from the scene and now she was free to say it. "Sirius's dead and your father's sent to Azkaban. You know perfectly well that your father deserves what he got. And since you are in the dirty circle of Voldemort, so do you. Helping him break countless families. Now you come to haunt those who suffered from that. You are lucky that you've only got a father safely in Azkaban. You should suffer more than that." Hermione walked away the moment she finished her finest speech in all her life.  
  
"Human sin."  
  
She heard Draco whispering this from behind and turned, surprised at the bitterness in his voice. If she thought Draco Malfoy had been hating her for so many years, it was wrong. For his voice just now was filled with an emotion Hermione had never heard before. This was the Malfoy style of real hatred. But when she turned, the corridor was deserted except for herself.  
  
............  
  
Draco rushed to his bedroom with his face blank as a mask. He passed a badly molded stone goblet beside his bed and sat down to continue his reading as if nothing had happened.  
  
i"The famous witch programmer Adrian Parphine mysteriously... ... ..."/i  
  
Draco suddenly looked up from his oversized 'leisure reading'. He turned to the goblet now with a bright violet flame burning inside. The flame was dancing triumphantly. Draco eagerly stood up. "Ah yes!"  
  
The flame was now jumping to a record high, turning green at the top. Draco quickly grabbed a parchment and, bit by bit, put it into the flame. Soon, the violet flame swallowed everything.  
  
Draco waited patiently as the flame began to die down. Finally, as the night of a peaceful Friday fell upon Earth, the flame went out completely. Draco raised from his armchair and looked in. in front of him was only a normal bottom of a normal goblet, except for a almost burnt piece of parchment.  
  
The parchment was burnt dark brown at the edge, getting lighter as it got closer to the center. But at the very center of the parchment, there was a shining mark of complete darkness.  
  
"The Cup of Durarge." Draco whispered, amazed at the mark now shining with black glow in front of him. It looked just like a normal goblet to the others, though. He carefully landed his wand tip on the mark. Suddenly, everything became a wild blur.  
  
Draco tried to see the parchment, but all he could see was his wand tip illuminated by a shining object with the shape of a goblet. He felt as if he was standing on water and was about to fall into the vast blue below. He saw the words "Enter and Flee" shining in golden lines before him. Draco touched it with his fingertip. Once. Twice. And the third time, he sank into the water.  
  
............  
  
Draco landed softly on vast grassland. He stood up and looked around, utterly confused. He marched a step forward. Suddenly, a screen popped up just before him, making him jump 1,000 feet above see level.  
  
iDear Player,  
  
You have entered the Cup of Durage. This is a survival game. Translation: you will rest in here forever or get out. You have one life and there is no game over, no time limit, and no one to race against except yourself.  
  
At the beginning of each level, take a step forward and the last level is gone. No return. And at the same time, a new screen will appear in front of you to give you a task. Complete the task, and you can go on to the next level. If not, stay there forever.  
  
There will be no other instructions.  
  
Step forward to begin the game. Good luck!  
  
Adrian Parphine /i  
  
"Adrian Parphine." Draco repeated. He step forward and gasped at the scene before him. "Holy mother of Jesus."  
  
END PROLOGUE  
  
A/N: Well? What do you think of it? The game is about to begin! 


	2. Level 1

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! To:  
  
Pavel: Thanxieeee for telling me that. Really. I'll try to make it more exciting next time, well maybe this time. Lol  
  
NiennaAlatariel: Oh! I've never thought about it! Thanxxxxx for that one. Knock Grammar Worm Out lol  
  
Also, this is a long chapter for 2 reasons.  
  
First: This is a well-plotted story, (Of course no match for Dan Brown) so it might be hard for you to remember the details if I divide Level 1 of the Game into 2 chapters or so.  
  
Second: I'm going to Manchester and I'm gonna stay there from 3rd of July to 17th. It's a student exchange, or I won't stay there for that long. So I will not be updating for quite a while. This long chapter serves kinda as 2 chapters in this case.  
  
Rate: General  
  
Disclaimer: I did not invent PC Game. And anything Harry Potter is not mine. They belong to JK Rowling... Poor me...  
  
Chapter One  
  
Level 1  
  
Draco stared at the scene before him. The grassland he just sat on vanished, replaced by a deserted town. At least deserted in Draco's opinion. Suddenly, a screen popped up. He jumped again.  
  
"Find Hermione Granger." It said. Draco blinked.  
  
What???!!! Nothing more???!!! And...and Granger??! Why should I find that Mudblood? Thank you very much! Unbearably useful indeed! Draco pushed the screen aside and began the game.  
  
He walked through the narrow streets, looking around curiously. This was the least place for traveling. Houses on both sides of the streets were silent, with no lights on and no smoke coming out of the chimneys. A ghost town, it might be easier to find Granger here, Draco thought with sarcasm.  
  
He finally stopped. There was nothing here, and even worse, he didn't have the faintest idea where the bloody exit was!  
  
What? Dead end?! Now use your brain. If I made Draco stop dead now the story wouldn't be able to continue! And you wanna see the rest part of it, right? So keep your eyes open and mouth shut!  
  
As I was saying, Draco was completely lost. He leant against a wall and sighed, looking up at the crystal sky. If only...  
  
There was suddenly a movement behind the wall, and with a squeak, the door beside Draco swung opened. A girl walked out soundlessly, "Draco Malfoy." She whispered.  
  
Draco was nearly scared out of daylight. He turned suddenly towards the girl and asked sharply, "What?!" But what he saw made his jaw drop.  
  
"Granger! Granger you are here?! All the time???!!!! Wait it can't be that easy! I've found you, but nothing happens. You..."  
  
The Hermione Granger tapped her fingertip on his lips before continuing her ghostly whisper, "You are to find Hermione Granger. Your worst enemy."  
  
"Hey! You're Granger aren't you?!" Draco asked, utterly lost. "Aren't you?" He examined the girl uncertainly, as if expecting her to burst into an old witch at any moment. Bushy brown hair. Brown eyes. Isn't she Granger?!  
  
"She whom you seek is nowhere to be found." The girl laughed before turning on her heels and heading down the street.  
  
"Hey wait! What do you mean? Nowhere to be found?" Draco ran after her, considering this girl was the only living thing he could see here.  
  
The girl kept running, apparently pretending not to have heard Draco's question. Draco sighed. It seemed the only sensible thing to do now was to keep up with her and gave up the question.  
  
Thirty minutes later  
  
"What...Where are you going?" Draco asked finally, unable to resist his curiosity. "And honestly, is all your streets here that long?? We've been walking like this for centuries!"  
  
"Which question shall I answer first?" The girl was still walking merrily, singing a strange song as she walked. Draco began seriously doubting if she was a human after all. If she was, then considering his experience with women...  
  
"What are you singing now?" He asked.  
  
"It's a song of worship for our goddess, Eirahnco. We go to attend a ritual every month in honour of her. The Mighty Goddess of the Gate." Seeing Draco raising an eyebrow at this, the girl explained. "The Gate to Power. It's only a 15 minutes' walk to the ritual now. This is the main road to the Plaza, so it's particularly straight. Otherwise, it'll take us hours to reach there from such a remote area where I live." Draco grinned. An irrelevant question answered all his doubts.  
  
"I see..." Draco nodded. So they went on in silence. Draco was beginning to feel that things were as bad as he thought now, not knowing that 15 minutes later, his jaw would drop to the ground. Again.  
  
"Here." The girl finally said, turning a corner. They were now facing a grand Plaza with a high podium in the center. Generally it was for a statue or something similar, but this podium had nothing on it. Draco opened his eyes. He closed them. He reopened them. No this wasn't true...  
  
The girl ran to join the crowd now singing around the podium, but Draco did not move. What he saw was not a normal crowd. It was a crowd of Hermione Grangers.  
  
"What the hell is this..." He muttered. A whole town of Grangers are out there, and the instruction told me to find Hermione Granger! He laughed bitterly to himself, "This is getting far better than I expected."  
  
After he finally collected himself, Draco moved towards the singing crowd, expecting the whole lot of Grangers to vanish with every step. Well it didn't happen.  
  
Finally, Draco stepped into the circle drawn on the Plaza. "Excuse me." He asked uncertainly.  
  
Several Grangers turned to him and stopped to giggle. More heads turned. And finally, the whole Plaza was looking at him. Draco felt his cheeks burning. "Well, clearing throat, which of you is the ... ... Hermione Granger?"  
  
Several girls burst out laughing. "No...no... I don't know anyone here who's called Hermione Granger. I'm Rosa." The girl looked up and down at Draco, looking amused.  
  
"And I'm Asor." Another girl beside Rosa piped. Several girls laughed. "R-O- S-A, Asor."  
  
"Draco Malfoy." Draco nodded nervously at the crowd. "If you don't know that Granger, I'd... ... ..."  
  
"I thought you were a new comer." Rosa cut in.  
  
"A new comer?"  
  
"I thought you came to worship Goddess Eirahnco with us." Rosa smiled.  
  
"Well..." Draco looked around, "You're worshipping that goddess here?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"It seems you don't have the habit of putting up a statue or something for her."  
  
"Oh no we don't." Rosa shook her head as the others continued with their worship, with occasional odd looks at Draco. "Eirahnco is nowhere but in our hearts. We don't show her to people outside."  
  
Draco nodded.  
  
"You want to join us?" Rosa asked with an odd expression, apparently trying to keep her face straight.  
  
"No thank you." Draco answered hastily before running away from the Plaza.  
  
7 hours later  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Good morning, Mr. Malfoy."  
  
"Wha.... What the...." Draco got up from the ground and edged away from her.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy." The elderly lady took a step further.  
  
"DON'T! Don't come near me!" Draco shouted, breathing hard. In front of him was an old version of Hermione Granger!  
  
Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger Hermione Granger!!!!!!!! Oh god why everyone I see is Hermione Granger??!!  
  
"Com'ere lad! You're destroying my garden!" The elderly Granger said, a bit annoyed now. Draco made a mental notice of how horrible Granger might look when she was 70 years old.  
  
Ten minutes later, Draco was sitting on a bench, listening to Old Granger nagging into his gracious ears. God bless them. Draco thought.  
  
"As I was saying, if you want to find a girl, there're many good girls here..."  
  
"I do NOT want to find a girl. I'm looking for Granger!" Draco told the Old Granger for the thousandth time.  
  
"Oh yes. Then how does she look like?" Old Granger asked curiously. Draco groaned. He couldn't just say 'everyone here looks like Granger' could he?  
  
"Well..." Draco said vaguely.  
  
"Girls mainly go to the seaside, young man." Old Granger remarked. "Why not go there to have a look?"  
  
Draco imagined Hermione Granger screaming at the seaside and sighed. "Alright, thanks." Determined that this Old Granger would never say anything useful, he stood up and went back to the street.  
  
"Tales are more than what they can do." He heard a voice behind and turned. Another Old Granger now took his place and was chatting with the Granger just now.  
  
"Aye." The first Old Granger nodded.  
  
Is everyone Shakespeare here?! Draco thought furiously.  
  
He wandered aimlessly in the street filled with Grangers watching him as he passed.  
  
"She whom you seek is nowhere to be found, She whom you seek is nowhere to be found...Goodness I'm going mad..." Draco wandered into a bookstore.  
  
"Hey Draco!" A Hermione tapped him on the shoulder. Draco turned.  
  
"Hi...er..." He replied.  
  
"What? You forgot me?! I'm Rosa!" The girl looked offended.  
  
How AM I supposed to remember you if everyone here looks the same?! Draco thought.  
  
"What are you looking for?" She asked curiously, "Never seen you here before."  
  
You never saw me until yesterday. Draco thought wearily before replying, "Well, you know, looking for something about Eirahnco." That's the only thing he knew, after all.  
  
"Oh! Really! Well if you are interested you can ask me about it. I know a lot!" Rosa offered proudly. "Why don't we go to the seaside."  
  
"What?" Draco stared. Old Granger surely told him girls here like the seaside, but it never occurred to him that they liked it that much."  
  
Rosa laughed at his expression. "Come! It's not far from here."  
  
Maybe another hour's walk will do. Draco thought with sarcasm.  
  
5 minutes later  
  
Surprisingly, the seaside was quite near. How come I never hear the tide? Draco thought with wonder. "So, what are you taking me here for?" Draco asked, examining the whole lot of Grangers screaming under the sunshine.  
  
"Come and see the Temple of Eirahnco!" Rosa shouted merrily to Draco.  
  
"You don't have to shout like that, Rosa." Draco muttered uneasily. People were turning in their direction now.  
  
Rosa led Draco up to a mountain of rocks. Finally, when they had climbed to the top, Draco looked down, astonished at the view in front of him. Under him was a vast sea of clouds, extending to the far end of the world. He couldn't see any Hermione below now. And it was unusually quiet.  
  
"The Temple of Eirahnco." Rosa said.  
  
"Where?" Draco looked around, "I can't see anything!"  
  
"On the rock lie stains for the intelligent and worthy to follow." Rosa was almost whispering now.  
  
"Look, why don't you just say 'you can follow the stains on the rock to get there'? It'll surely be a lot easier!" Draco said impatiently, tired at the way people were speaking here.  
  
Rosa was silent. Draco rolled his eyes. It reminded him of that "She whom you seek is nowhere to be found." The girl who said that remained silent as well when he asked what that meant.  
  
People are weird these days. He thought.  
  
"I'm leaving you here now." Rosa said with a smile, "The Goddess is for people to find alone."  
  
Draco was about to say that he didn't really mean to find Eirahnco when something suddenly struck him. "Wait. You said Eirahnco was nowhere but in people's heart."  
  
Rosa's smile broadened. "Aww you remembered!"  
  
"Yeah but you spoke of the Temple of Eirahnco. And you say by following the stains on the rocks, I can actually find the goddess. What's that rubbish abo..."  
  
Draco turned to Rosa, but she was already gone.  
  
"Damit." Draco frowned. He sat down on the top of the rock mountain (Not Rocky Mountains) and sighed heavily.  
  
"She whom you seek is nowhere to be found." Draco gave a hollow laugh. If she's nowhere to be found, why ask me to find her?... And this... Draco examined the marks on the rocks, it seems to be leading downhill. And this leads to the goddess? But Rosa said it's nowhere to...  
  
Draco's eyes widened. "Nowhere to be found." He said this out loud. "She whom you seek is nowhere to be found. Eirahnco is nowhere. This leads to her Temple..."  
  
The next thing he knew was that he began following the marks like a hunter after a deer.  
  
Thirty minutes later  
  
The marks had led Draco to a running spring. And they ended here suddenly. On the last rock, however, words were marked.  
  
"No matter how, one can not escape the sin." Draco read aloud, "What the hell is this now?!" He sat down again, lost for the millionth time today.  
  
The spring brought Draco a cool breeze. He looked down as water flew down to the sea. It was as clear as crystal, and every rock beneath could be plainly seen. That lifted Draco's mood for a bit. Mark this: Only a bit. He was still frowning. Somewhere not far from where he sat, a bird was singing on a rock tip just above the water. The rock looked odd. With that stain on it.  
  
Wait a minute.  
  
Stain?  
  
Stain!  
  
Draco narrowed his eyes as he examined the rock carefully. Clear enough, there was a letter "E" carved into it.  
  
"E?" Draco frowned. "E what?"  
  
A small voice piped in his head. "Eat?"  
  
Draco waved the thought off. "Eirahnco." He was surprised at how quick he was this time. Yeah, Eirahnco, but there was only the letter "E" there. Draco curiously walked towards the rock. The water there was shallow. Good. He stepped onto the rock.  
  
He gasped.  
  
Now clearly before him, was another rock marked the letter "I".  
  
Twenty minutes later  
  
"C."  
  
"O."  
  
"Yes!" Draco landed safely on dry ground. Now standing before him was the solemn and grand Temple of Eirahnco.  
  
"Wow." Draco said as he walked the grand Hall of the Temple. It was a massive worshipping ground, but there was no sign of Hermione Granger. Not even a fake one. This place was deserted.  
  
"Hello?" Draco's voice echoed the Hall. Nothing. Absolutely empty.  
  
"She whom you seek is nowhere to be found." Draco recited, a bit disappointed. He had come to the inner Hall of the Temple, and there in front of him stood a statue of a goddess built against a wall, about the same height as Draco. He raised an eyebrow. So small? Draco sighed and began marching around, examining the ceiling.  
  
... ... ...  
  
He saw a head.  
  
He saw a neck.  
  
Draco stared. He looked up to the sky and saw a massive statue of the same goddess standing in front of him. The 'wall' just now was actually a part of her dress. "Oh my..." Draco admired.  
  
"We often have two statues built. One smaller, one larger. The smaller one was called the Taler. People used to tell legends of Eirahnco in front of it." He remembered Rosa telling him on their road up to the rock mountain. "Of course." Draco whispered. "Taler."  
  
So basically this is a place for old witches to tell tales. Draco smiled inwardly. "Tales are more than what they can do." He laughed. This was so sarcastic.  
  
"On the rock lie stains for the intelligent and worthy to follow.. No matter how, one can not escape the sin." Draco shook his head, bad rhyming. I'll make it sound more reasonable... He thought.  
  
"She whom you seek is nowhere to be found.  
  
Tales are more than what they can do.  
  
On the rock lie stains for the intelligent and worthy to follow.  
  
No matter how, one can not escape the sin." Draco pictured the 'poem' in his mind.  
  
The last words are found, do, follow, sin, nothing really rhymes or means anything at all. he thought, trying to find the same pronunciation in it but failed.  
  
"Okay you're being boring, Draco." The small voice inside him piped again.  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
Draco thought about the poem again, laughing at the fact that the last letter of each sentence strung together and formed the word "down".  
  
Maybe the first letters form the word "rise". Draco shrugged as he realized that they only formed "Ston", and that was nothing. Sounds like "Stone" though. Draco was completely bored now. Maybe by adding a "E" or something. Eirahnco? Draco thought. That forms "Stone Down". Does that mean I have to knock that rock down? Draco watched the 'Taler" with suspicion. Something struck Draco. But he couldn't make out what. "Knock that rock down?" he laughed, "Quite creative, Draco."  
  
He focused on the poem again. "She whom you seek is nowhere to be found, Tales are more than what they can do, On the rock lie stains..."  
  
"On the rock lie stains..." Draco stood up suspiciously. He walked towards the Taler and stood on tiptoe, looking down on the rock it was carved from. There was a stain.  
  
A marble to be precise, pressed into the rock.  
  
Draco pressed the marble, uncertain what might happen next. Suddenly, the rock in front of him collapsed, it was hollow inside.  
  
At least it must be once carved hollow. For there was something inside.  
  
A someone, to be precise.  
  
"Rosa?" Draco asked in surprise as the girl inside opened her eyes.  
  
The chocolate eyes focused on him for a while before narrowing to a line. "Malfoy!" She hissed. "Why are you in my..."  
  
Hermione Granger looked up in horror as she began realizing where she exactly was right now. She quickly jumped out of the space. "What the..."  
  
Draco wasn't looking at her. He was staring at something behind her, mouth open. "What the HELL." Draco finished for Hermione.  
  
The wall behind the hollow space Hermione Granger just stood was rising like a door. And soon, they saw an opening just fit to go through. Draco walked towards the opening.  
  
"Wait! You can't leave me here!" Hermione demanded. "What the hell is going on?"  
  
"You've got a lot to catch up, Mudblood." Draco smiled at her. "Of course, Eirahnco is the Goddess of the Gate..." He whispered, turning back to the opening. A screen was floating in midair, with the words "Level 1 Complete. Step forward to exit."  
  
"Wait!!!" Hermione practically screamed.  
  
Draco stepped forward.  
  
END LEVEL 1  
  
A/N: Okay that was really long wasn't it? Hope you enjoy it. Again, I'll not be able to update before 17th of July, if there isn't any change of the schedule. Anyway, tell me what you think of this chapter! 


	3. Level 2 PART ONE

A/N: Wow thanx guys for all your reviews! Hugssssssss To:

**Nikki**: What else can I say? YAY! LOL

**Adlea Evanstar**: Yup thanx look I'm updating right now lol

**Slytherindraco34**: win the game? Hehe there's nobody competing with him right now... but you will see later how this eventually turns out...

**Nia Redavni**: wow thanx for that. You know planning clever plots aren't that easy, so do forgive me if this chapter turns out to be rubbish, okay?

**Labpotter**: wow haha thanx! I like that chappie too!

**Karana Belle**: ermmm about the Will-Draco-Leave-Hermione thing, you'll find out at the beginning of the chapter, but you should keep that thought in mind heehee

**Flirtytype214**: What else can I say to you but many thanx? Hugssssssssss

**Ahlam**: Merci et...euh...qui, madame. lol I'll update lol

Again, thanx for all that have reviewed and for all that has helped me with the new chapter. (Sonia & flirtytype214) This chapter might not be so clever as the first one, but it involves something beyond the game. So enjoy!

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter.

Rate: General or PG for mild language and deaths (No violence involved, just plain deaths)

Chapter 2

**Level 2 --- PART ONE---**

Draco was again sitting on the grassy land, enjoying the breezes dancing past him. This was only the first level. Draco sighed at the idea, utterly exhausted. Mentally.

He wondered why he was still so into it. _.:: What's the point anyway? Just for a bit of Malfoy pride? ::._ Draco laughed bitterly to himself. No chance to quit anyway, the game was supposed to go on forever... until there was no player left.

_.::Is the Cup still there?::._ Draco wondered. _.:: But the game won't even exist if the Cup's already taken... ::._ Draco wondered why nobody had taken the Cup in so many years. After all, men have long being pursuing the Cup, giving up their entire career. _.:: This is madness. ::._ Draco shook his head. He refused to answer but something kept popping up in his mind. _.:: What happened to all of them? ::._

Draco shook his head violently. _.:: How am I supposed to know?! The book didn't say that! ::._ Yet he wondered again why he ever trusted the book... Wait! The... the book?!

Across the void, in another world...

"Dracoooo! You're alright?" Pansy squeaked through the door. She couldn't take it any longer. "You missed the whole day and you haven't even had your meals!" She broke into his Prefect Bedroom. "Drac............"

Pansy fell silent at the sight of the deserted room. "Draco? I know you're hiding Drak...I've brought you some snacks..." She scanned the room for any trace of life in vain.

There was a weird looking goblet standing there with light flames still dancing inside. Pansy knew too well than to actually touch it. She'd seen countless Dark Arts and magic in Draco's room and nothing could surprise her now. Except one.

There was an aged looking book lying open on his desk. Pansy edged closer, frowning. Draco never laid books concerning Dark Arts and sorts around for everyone to see. He was always careful... but it seemed he was half way through reading it when something else pulled him away.

"Hmmm...." Pansy read. "The Cup of Durage is said to contain the spirit of Dainador Francaizo, the most powerful wizard in the Third Montarial Age of the Wizarding History. This was the last recorded practice of the Spell."

"Spell?" Pansy whispered, confused.

Pansy Parkinson stood there in all her confusion, not knowing that just inches away, the ancient Dark Arts was forming a magical link between the world and...

_The book..._ Draco felt himself frozen into an iceberg. "The book. I left it open in my room..." He said in a dead whisper. After a second, he realized something worse.

_.::I've been away for more than a day now. Pansy would probably go find me and... ::._ Draco sighed wearily as he formed the conclusion: There's no chance Pansy Parkinson wouldn't find this book. And the only hope is that she wouldn't be thick enough to tell Dumbledore about it. Or even worse... "Damit." He spat it out bitterly.

"What?!" He heard some voice asking sharply. _.:: You're hearing things, Draco. Good sign. ::._ He thought.

"WHAT?! WHAT'S ALL THAT FOR????!!!" He heard a girl shouting madly from behind. _.:: Probably due to the lack of food. ::._ Draco reasoned with himself, not turning his head. Now that thinking of this, he suddenly felt hunger rising up in him like a wild fire.

"Draco Malfoy YOU STINK tell me what's going ON!!!"

"GET LOST!!!" Draco turned furiously; fully expect it was just some stupid illusion. But for the first time in his life, he admitted he was wrong. Hermione Granger, in all her fury, was towering in front of him.

Man this better be a nightmare.

"Granger?" He asked in a deadly whisper. "You followed me here?"

"Excuse me, I believe it's you who somehow dragged me here in the first place." Hermione crossed her arms.

Draco let out a bitter laugh. "Why isn't this game supposed to be a single-player one?" He looked around and sure enough, a screen had already popped up in front of him.

"Step forward to begin Level Two."

Step forward... Maybe... Mudblood stepped forward just in time to enter the second round?

"Alright now Granger if you can do me and yourself a favor, please turn around and walk back. You'll return to your dormitory or wherever you were." Draco said lazily, trying to sound relaxed. He definitely didn't want another one to spoil the game. Especially Mudblood Granger. He waited for any reaction. None.

Granger frowned, fixed at the spot.

"Or yes you can stand at where you are and..." Draco finally lost his patience and stepped forward. "Goodbye, Mudblood." He turned to wave an evil goodbye, but what he saw made his heart froze.

"What's that on the screen. I can't make it out." Hermione asked, taking a step closer to read. "Step forw...What????!!!!!!! Where are we NOW? Malfoy???!!!"

"WHERE DO YOU THINK WE ARE?!" Draco yelled into Hermione's face. "Why?! Why on earth are you following me EVERYWHERE?! You human..." Draco suddenly paused, frowning.

"I know I'm human sin alright?! Now what?!" Hermione finished for him, looking more confused than angry this time. She's looking straight ahead.

Human Sin? Why does this term sound so familiar? Draco finally waved this thought off him, trying to focus on something more practical, for Granger was poking him violently now.

"What?" Draco turned impatiently and saw Hermione pointing at the screen.

_"A maze where you can never get lost,_

_An exit you can never pass through._

_The clues lay obvious,_

_Just for you to pursue._

_Show courage when the most impossible happens,_

_Have faith when you are inch to death._

_Go where your heart tells you._

_You will have no time to regret."_

"Well that's telling something..." Draco spat out with sarcasm. He stepped forward and the view in front of him was cleared.

On seeing this, both of them gapped.

"Mal... Malfoy?" Hermione asked nervously. Draco ignored her, staring blankly before him.

They were standing on a cliff, lava running under them, roaring to swallow everything. In front of them stood a massive eagle-like creature with two claws like pawns of a lion. The creatures screamed or rather howled when its cold brownish eyes met Draco's.

Draco automatically turned around to see the other end of the cliff but instead, he saw nothing but endless lava. They were alone on an island high up the sea of flames. He swallowed.

Hastily turning back, Draco saw another screen floating in midair just between the creature and them.

_"When the most absurd thing happens_

_Tell the bird_ (BIRD?! YOU CALL THIS BIRD???!!!) _in front of you_

_Tell him his name_ (AHA IT'S ACTUALLY A 'HE'!)

_Let him guide you_

_To the END_

_Beyond that_

_The five senses are_

_A tale"_

Precisely this moment, another creature screamed: "MALFOY!!!"

* * *

"Hermione!" Harry and Ron called through the door of the Prefect's Dormitory. "Hermione you're okay?"

There was no reply.

The two friends exchanged a look and...

"Loscinaon."

The door swung open and carefully, very carefully, they slipped in.

"Herm..." Harry began and stopped abruptly. "Ron..." He called, pointing at the empty bed.

"Hermione slept in it. But she somehow..." Harry gestured towards the half-sunk hollow at the middle of the blanket and chose his words carefully. "Didn't get up." Ron stared at Harry, utterly lost for words.

* * *

"MALFOY!" A world away, Hermione Granger screamed at a Draco Malfoy.

"WHAT?!"

"WOULD YOU BE SO KIND AS TO EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?"

"Alright! I was playing a game and you somehow got in and now we can't do anything but to continue as it is are you not SATISFIED?!" Draco lost his temper.

"Is it.... The wizarding PC game?" Hermione asked slowly.

"You know it?" Draco raised an eyebrow.

"There's a book called "Wizarding PC Game" on the further-reading list at the end of the Muggle Study text book and so naturally I've read about it." Hermione frowned. "What's it about?" Our dear Hermione Granger got so curious about the game that she even forgot to be uncivil to the 'ferret boy'.

"The Cup of..." There was an interval. "The Cup or something like this." Draco said vaguely. Hermione ignored him and went on. "And what do we do now?"

Not waiting for an answer, she turned to study the poem.

"When the most absurd thing happens

Tell the bird in front of you

Tell him his name

Let him guide you

To the END... ... ... Does that mean when something crazy happened we have to tell the bird his name and he'll guide us to the exit?" Hermione reasoned.

_.:: Hell she doesn't even look surprised! ::._ Draco sighed as he made a mental notice of how absurd a know-it-all can get.

"This is absurd..." He shook his head.

"Yea absurd!" Hermione agreed. Draco looked up. "What?!"

"We're now in an absurd situation right? So all we have to do is to tell the beast his name and let him do the rest of the job!" Hermione said, her eyes shining hopefully.

"Then tell him his name." Draco said impatiently.

Hermione stopped dead.

Draco smirked. "See the point now?"

Hermione looked put off. "George?"

The bird stared at Hermione.

"Ron? Harry? Neville?"

"Vincent?" Hermione sighed and turned to see Draco lying there fast asleep. Suddenly, as if struck by some sixth sense, Draco opened his eyes. "Pleasant sight Granger?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Malfoy this isn't a very funny game. Now am I allowed to get out?"

Draco sighed heavily and sat bolt up, shouting into Hermione's ear. "HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU WANNA HEAR THIS?! WE. CAN'T. GET. OUT!"

Hermione went silent. Gradually, Draco saw the subtle change in her expression.

"So... so it's a matter of life and death?" She finally asked through her dry lips.

Draco never got time to answer for at that precise moment, another screen popped up in front of them, followed by the nasty roar of the bird.

_"He is getting hungry."_

They blinked. But seconds later, both understood.

"Do you have your wand? Mine's left in my dormitory." Hermione asked.

Draco checked his pocket. He gave Hermione a 'look'.

Hermione looked from the bird to Draco. "I'm not dying here." She said, her voice strangely sharp.

Draco was silent. He was sure he was holding his wand when pointing at the goblet... But when he dropped onto the grass for the first time, he wasn't holding anything...

"We can't get his name!" Hermione hissed.

"Not if you continue like this." Draco said calmly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... you were looking in the wrong way. We should tell him his name of species not his bloody nick name."

"You knew this?" Hermione narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"No... no I only just worked it out. But I never read." He said in sarcasm.

Hermione ignored Draco's tone and focused back at the bird. It gave a horrible roar, eyeing the two teenagers greedily. Another screen popped up: _"He is very hungry."_

Eagle... pawns of a lion... brownish eyes... cry like a Hippogriff...it eats... ... ... Hermione shuddered at the thought... human...

Suddenly, as if struck by lightning, Hermione raised her head. "Loscinaon!" Draco looked up:" How on earth...?" 

"It's the Gryffindor Prefect's Room's password." Hermione said simply, leaving a thunderstruck Draco. She turned to see a screen hanging just above the Loscinaon.

_"Loscinaon was fed. Get onto him and let him ..."_ The sentence stopped there.

"Let him guide you to the end." Hermione said cheerfully. She walked a bit closer to the beast but was stopped in midway.

"Umm Granger?" Draco said, recovering from the shock.

Hermione turned.

"I see we're both stuck in this game so..." "Yeah you realized that eventually!" "So..." He took a deep breath. "Truce?"

"Truce." Hermione nodded slowly. She turned and carefully jumped onto the beast, not seeing the green flash in Draco's eyes.

Fifteen minutes later...

"So that's it." Draco sighed with a tune of finality.

"Wow Malfoy! That was brilliant! You actually can think!" Hermione said in awe after hearing the first round of the game.

"Shut up, Granger."

"How many rounds does the stupid game have anyway?" Hermione changed the topic, unwilling to break the truce.

"No idea. Probably hundreds." Draco suddenly felt dizzy. He clutched at the Loscinaon's feathers and looked down at the irony sword-like hills among the see of lava.

"Malfoy what's up?"

Draco shook his head, but thought better of it a second later. "Do you have anything to eat with you?" He said, trying to sound relaxed. "It's just.. I haven't eaten anything for a while." Exactly how long Draco didn't say, but he knew it was two solid days since he'd seen anything edible.

"Errr.... No... nothing _flamboyant_." Hermione said with sarcasm. Draco wasn't listening.

He was watching something.

Watching something green.

It was a plain of grass.

Grass.

And something grayish like mountains in front of them.

He saw mushrooms just below them.

Plain lovely adorable mushrooms.

"Draco!" Hermione screamed. "Are you mad??!!!"

* * *

Pansy Parkinson stood there, fixed at the spot. Something was terribly wrong, or at least so it seemed. Should she tell Dumbledore? No definitely not. But... should she tell his parents...? Pansy scanned Draco's room and spotted a pot of floo-powdery like stuff inside.

Her hand trembling, Pansy took a bit and tossed it into the fire.

* * *

"Draco!" Hermione panicked. Draco had just jumped off the Loscinaon and Hermione did something unforgivable in her life. She followed...

"Ouch!" Hermione hit the ground, hard. Draco was standing beside her, eyebrow raised. "How...?" Hermione stared up at Draco for a while and that was all she could say in a while. "How? Why?"

Draco sneered:" For how, purebloods do have more magic talents than ..." He stopped, his eyes cold and dark. .::Mudblood.::. Draco spat inwardly. "As for why, I'm hungry and we have mushrooms here, the only thing edible in two days."

Hermione, clearly not buying that answer, was about to ask something when suddenly there was a sharp cry. They jumped, looking up hastily.

White feathers.

White feathers covered in blood.

The dark and fumy sky was now covered in pure white feathers with shiny bloodstains.

The feathers gradually flew down like snowflakes.

Hermione held out her hand, a feather in blood rested upon her palm. "Loscinaon..." Hermione whispered. "Loscinaon feather..."

Wind began to blow, parting the feather snow to reveal a massive mushroom mountain. The lava began to part like tides. Hermione stared at the mountain with a tiny stain of blood at the top, utterly awed.

Draco wasn't watching, though. He was studying Hermione, frowning. "You didn't see the mountain just now?!"

Hermione turned. "You did?" She asked in surprise. Draco turned away and shook his head. _.::Dark Magic??? ::._ He thought.

"It looks like..." Hermione began, dragging Draco back to reality. "Like a mushroom forest or something..." She laughed nervously. "We aren't Alices in Wonderland are we?"

"Alice in Wonderland?" Draco asked curiously.

"Oh never mind." Hermione waved this off. "Look! I can see a clear path there! It seems something pushed the mushrooms aside... something huge..." Their legs carried them automatically into the forest...

"Professor Dumbledore! Professor!" Ron and Harry rushed into Headmaster's Office. "Hermione's missing!" They said in union.

Dumbledore looked up, "Calm down please, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter. Let's go." He said simply and stood up.

"I can't imagine what will happen if we stayed on that Loscinaon." Hermione sighed, following Draco tracking the "something huge" that created the mess. Mushrooms were lying here and there, broken into pieces.

"Crashed into white feathers as well." Draco answered. "Obviously."

"But the poem told us he would carry us to the end!" Hermione reasoned.

_.:: Good question. Exactly what I'm wondering right now. ::._ Draco thought bitterly, but he was not going to admit that to a Mudblood. He changed the topic, sensing something. "We shouldn't go on like that." He said, stopping dead. "The traces are a mess they lead to nowhere. We might well end up being eaten by that creature. Nice end..." Draco sighed.

"Carry you to the END. Now I understand... " Hermione suddenly said, looking up at Draco. "That would be our END if we stayed on that beast." She whispered with terror. "I can't take it anymore. The word meant death when it was supposed to mean exit! How can we go on with such instructions?"

"It's not the instruction that's misleading you. It's you yourself!" Draco snapped. "Beyond that, the five senses are a tale. It must mean something!" He clenched his teeth.

"But that means nothing! Where do we go now?" Hermione fumed.

"That way." Draco pointed right to a random mushroom towering in front of them.

"What?" Hermione looked at Draco as though he was mad. "Are we climbing the mushroom?" She half-joked.

"I don't know. Just that way. What do you women call it? Sixth sense?"

"Who created this game?" Hermione asked slowly.

"What?" Draco snapped.

"I mean, was that also a woman?"

"The famous witch programmer Adrian Parphine... yeah... a woman... whi...." Draco stopped, getting to the point almost instantly.

"Five senses are a tale." They said in union.

"Tales are more than what they can do." Draco recited.

"We need the sixth sense to find the exit." Hermione said. "This is madness..."

"Go where your heart tells you. You will have no time to regret." Draco recited. "This is it. We're depending on sixth sense to save our lives right now." He whistled.

"But how?"

Draco paused. He couldn't answer that... not a clue... So instead, Draco decided to focus on something practical. "The mushrooms are broken into pieces. That doesn't usually happen to soft things like mushrooms right?" He picked a tiny mushroom at his feet and threw it at the huge mushroom tree in front of them playfully. "You'd think they could break like glas...." He stopped dead as the tiny mushroom hit the one in front of them. The latter broke into pieces to review a huge entry ... ... ... of a tunnel.

"Cool..." Draco whispered. "Sixth sense...." He walked into the tunnel without thinking...

"Wait!" Hermione called from behind. Draco turned. "What? What now?"

"The mushrooms didn't break for no reason! There mush be something pushing them to crash! What if something's waiting at the end of the tunnel?" Hermione suggested, not caring how childish she sounded right then. This was an absurd world anyway.

"So your suggestion be?"

Hermione picked a larger mushroom almost as long as her arm. "The mushroom tree killed the Loscinaon. We need weapons like that."

Exactly that moment, the fireplace of Lord Voldemort roared. He asked without turning his head. "What's wrong Draco?"

There was no reply.

Frowning a bit, he turned to the fire. The scene made him froze.

Pansy Parkinson stared into the fireplace, puzzled. No face popped up in the fireplace, but she heard it clearly:" What's wrong Draco?" It was a cold and chilling voice, not a bit like what she was expecting of Lucious Malfoy's oily tone.

"Er.... Mr. Malfoy?" She asked uncertainly.

Voldemort stared down at the head of a girl staring blankly at him. His face indifferent, he raised his wand... ... ...

"It's a crossroad!" Hermione examined.

"It looks... more like a cross..." Draco said slowly, walking to the center of the cross.

Suddenly, out of nowhere came four heart-stopping roars.

They turned in horror to find themselves surrounded... ... ... by four sphinxes.

* * *

END LEVEL 2 PART ONE


End file.
